


Part of your world

by Lady_Mystra



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Creature Inheritance, Dimension Travel, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Harry Potter was Adopted by Other(s), Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Merpeople, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Pre-Canon, Protective Azul, Protective Leech twins, Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28479120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Mystra/pseuds/Lady_Mystra
Summary: After his uncle went too far, Harry’s magic whisked him away to another world. There he will find a new family that will help him face the hardships that are yet to come. Although everything has started looking up for the young wizard, how long will it last? The Coral Sea can be a dark and cruel place after all. And what about the war that is starting to brew in his original world?Follow Harry as he starts a new life under the sea with his adoptive brother, Azul, by his side.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Azul Ashengrotto, Harry Potter & Floyd Leech, Harry Potter & Jade Leech
Comments: 14
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Happy new year!
> 
> It's a great time to start a new fic. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely Andara16.

Pain shot across his body as his uncle’s belt made contact with his back. Though, the cloth of his shirt protected his back, it was barely thick enough to offer any real relief. After every hit it became harder for the young boy to focus. Only one thought kept him conscious. He had to get away before his uncle went too far. The man had never lost control like this before. Of course the boy had been punished with a slap or kick here and there before, but his uncle had never used his belt before…. Or kept going for so long. If the boy didn’t get away soon and he lost consciousness, he might never wake up again.

His magic rose to the surface with the boy’s rising panic. Feeling his desperate wish of going away, his magic enveloped him. His body started to glow and just as his uncle cried out in shock and rage, his magic exploded outward, blasting his uncle away and taking the boy away from the house that had until now been his prison. The last thing the boy saw was his uncle slumped against the wall, unfocused eyes pointing in his direction.

* * *

The boy suddenly found himself submerged in water. He couldn’t see anything and he didn’t know what had happened or where he was. Panicked, he opened his mouth, trying to get air into his lungs. However, water entered instead, stealing his remaining breath. The edges of his vision started to dim and black spots danced before his eyes. Just before everything faded to black, he felt the same warmth he had felt just minutes before. It reached out to every part of his body. However, instead of the comfort it provided earlier, it felt like it set every nerve in his body alight. The pain was unbearable. Like his cells were pulled apart and rearranged. Though the boy’s pain tolerance was fairly high, the pain he felt now combined with the lack of oxygen made him lose consciousness.

The boy’s unconscious body slowly drifted to the ground as magic worked to make its wielder able to survive in the environment he had found himself in.

Unknown to the boy, he had inherited something that would now make the difference between life and death. His father was not fully human. Like many pureblooded wizards, James Potter had multiple magical creatures in his family tree. The relation was not recent enough to clearly appear in the man except for some superficial features, but enough for his son’s magic to save his life.

It enhanced what was already there and managed to force the boys body to change. His legs started to melt into each other, creating a long tail, which elongated to almost twice its original size. Its color changed from the boy’s original skin tone to a black-and-white striped pattern. Rather similar to that of a zebra. In the process his pants were torn of and washed away. His skin color lightened until it was almost as white as the stripes on his newly grown tail, except for the small black dots that had appeared on the sides of his torso and up his neck. These dots also formed around his forearm ending just past his wrists and were located so closely together that they almost colored both of his forearms completely black. Though, at the edges the dots were less closely located. His ears had elongated and became pointy, while more black dots became splattered across his cheeks and nose, looking rather similar to freckles. His raven black bangs brushed his newly freckled cheeks as they moved with the currents of the sea.

However, the most surprising event during this transformation was the piercing screech that could be heard as black smoke rose from a scar on the boy’s forehead. The smoke swirled around the boy, before it suddenly exploded letting out one final bone chilling scream. The only evidence that something happened to the scar, was the blood slowly leaking from it. However, being in the water, the blood quickly started to dissolve.

While this all happened, large sky blue eyes watched on in disbelief. Slowly an ebony black tentacle appeared from a small octopus pot. Then another joined it. And another. Until finally a small boy appeared looking to be about the same age as the boy he had been watching. He had eight black tentacles with suckers on them, similar to an octopus. His body was mostly black, except for parts of his chest, abdomen and face, which were a light grey. Lavender, wavy hair framed his chubby cheeks and his eyes looked slightly red from crying.

Slowly the young octopus merman approached the newly transformed kid, who was now laying unmoving on the sea floor. Though he seemed to be afraid, he steeled himself and reached out a hand to touch the other kid. However, before he could, the child’s eyes fluttered open, revealing one bright green and one brown eye. Startled the octopus merman quickly retracted his hand and watched the other with wariness.

“A-Are you alright?” The lavender-haired child nervously asked.

Startled at the sudden noise, the other kid tried to sit up and scuttle away. However, he was unused to his new form and his body still ached from both the transformation and the beating he took earlier, causing him to cry out in pain and collapse again.

Seeing this reaction worried the octopus merman, causing him to take note of the other’s state. He was wearing some sort of large cloth that he had seen people on the surface wear. However, it appeared to be far too large for the kid, slipping of one of his shoulders and revealing a large bruise. The cloth was also splattered with some red substance that might have been blood. It was mainly on the kid’s back.

“D-don’t b-be afraid. I-I won’t hurt you.” The octopus merman tried to calm the boy as he slowly moved closer again. However, he took note of the other’s body language this time. The black-haired boy was watching him approach with caution and every time the other appeared ready to flee, the lavender-haired merman halted his approach. Although, it took a while, the octopus merman was able to reach the injured boy.

“C-can I touch you? Y-you don’t seem able to move by yourself and I c-can carry you to someone who can help you…”

Staring deeply into the lavender-haired merman’s eyes, the injured boy seemed to gauge his trustworthiness. What little strength that he still had seemed to leave him the longer he waited. He had to be quick and decide whether he wanted to trust the other. So far he seemed kind and he could not sense any ill will.

“Yes….you can…” The injured boy said in a small voice and finally allowed the other boy close. Though, he tensed upon the other’s touch, he did allow it.

Thus, the octopus merman ended up carrying the injured teen towards his home, though he seemed to just barely hang onto it he did remain conscious during the journey. He was so focused on his mission that he almost missed the softly whispered question.

“What’s your name?”

“Azul…. What’s yours?”

“It’s Harry….”

After the brief introduction silence settled over the boys. The were both lost in thought. Harry was still rather confused and scared, but Azul’s presence soothed him slightly. It was the first kindness he had felt in a long time. When he had first started going to school, some of the teachers were kind to him, but that always quickly changed after his aunt or uncle talked to them. It was nice being held so tenderly. Even though the situation still seemed like a dream, he relaxed in the other’s ….. tentacles?

Azul was still rather flabbergasted at what he had seen earlier. The boy in his hold had transformed from a being with two legs into an eel merman. Though, he did look different from the eel twins in his class, he could still recognize him as one. Did someone use magic on him to change his form? And why was he hurt?

For what felt like hours, but actually only took a couple of minutes, Azul finally reached his home. It was a rather large building that actually looked rather normal if you ignored the fact that it was underwater….and had no windows and coral was decoratively growing from the walls. One part of the building looked somewhat like a restaurant, though nobody was there at the moment and no light was on. Before the building, two spheres attached to intricately designed pillars in the form of seahorses could be seen. To the surprise of Harry, the speres seemed to give off a bright light, however it looked nothing like a normal lamp. The light seemed to come from some sort of swirling mass inside the sphere. Harry had never seen something like it before.

Though, Harry couldn’t make out anymore details, since Azul rushed inside.

“Father! Mother! Please come! I need your help.” Azul shouted frantically. Not used to their son calling them for help so frantically, the duo, who looked rather similar to Azul, rushed to the entrance worried about their son. However, they stopped in their track at the sight that greeted them.

Their son, who had never brought any of his friends home, was carrying an eel merman with his tentacles. Upon closer inspection, they noticed the blood on the boy’s clothes and the pained look on his face. They rushed forward, prepared to grab the injured child from their sons hold and give him the medical attention he seemed to need. To their shock, Azul moved the boy out of their reach. Though, the reason quickly became clear to them when they heard the whimpers coming from him and saw his eyes widen in surprise at their approach.

“You’re safe. Those are my parents. They won’t hurt you, okay?” Azul softly whispered to the boy in his hold, who seemed to slightly relax. He still looked afraid, but he seemed to trust Azul’s words for now. Azul then addressed his parents and explained how he had found Harry. However, he did not tell them that he had seen the other boy transform. He did not know what his parents would do if they found out and he was afraid that they might not help him if they knew. They seemed shaken up at hearing the state he found Harry in.

When they tried to reach out again, Azul tightened his hold on Harry. Seeing how protective their son was of the other, they knew he wouldn’t relent any time soon so they came up with a compromise. Azul could, upon Harry’s agreement, remove the shirt he was wearing, so they could examine the injuries and decide how best to treat them.

When Harry gave his agreement, Azul wasted no time in removing the article of clothing. Though, he took his time and carefully teared the front of the shirt apart so it would be easier to remove it. Then he carefully maneuvered the boy’s arms through the sleeves, pausing every time the other whimpered or tensed.

Azul’s mother let out a gasp at the sight of the numerous bruises, old and new, coloring the boy’s torso. However, nothing had prepared them for the sight of Harry’s back. When Harry let Azul tilt his body so his back was visible to all, long gashes revealed themselves, stretching from shoulder to hipbone. They seemed fresh and some blood was slowly trickling from them. What could have caused these injuries, was what all the octopus merpeople in the room were thinking. Were they from some sort of claws?

Fortunately, Azul’s father seemed to get himself together quickly. Using a soft tone of voice he asked the boy directly whether he was allowed to approach. He explained that he could heal the worst of it using his light magic. At the mention of magic, Azul felt Harry stiffen in his hold. Then Harry fearfully said almost the strangest statement they had ever heard.

“M-magic?! There’s no such thing as magic.” The boy vehemently denied. In his fear he ignored that everything that had happened to him that day would not have been possible if magic didn’t exist. His family had always told them there was no such thing as magic and if he even hinted at the opposite being true, his uncle would punish him. Even the mention of magic was forbidden.

“How can you not know about magic?!” Azul exclaimed. He forgot to keep his voice down in his surprise, causing Harry to shrink into himself. Well, as much as he could while still being held by Azul’s tentacles.

“Dear, magic does exist and my husband can use it to sooth your pain and heal your wounds, if you let him.” Azul’s mother gently said to the frightened boy. It seemed to work somewhat, as Harry had settled in Azul’s hold again, though he still looked weary. “I do not know what kind of life you lived before coming here and what happened to you, but I promise we’re only trying to help you.”

This seemed to do the trick as Harry gave his agreement. He allowed Azul’s father to approach, only slightly tensing as the man’s hand started to glow. Harry felt a soft warmth spread from the place the man touched. Slowly the constant throbbing pain he had felt since his arrival underwater started to disappear, leaving only a dull ache behind. He felt his eyelids grow heavy as the man continued to push his magic inside of him. The magic started to even heal the aches in the rest of his body that had appeared during his transformation. When Azul’s father stopped the steady supply of magic, Harry lost the battle against sleep and his eyelids finally fell shut. As he slowly drifted off in sleep, he could feel the comforting hold of Azul, making a smile appear on his face for the first time in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so yeah, as I mentioned in my other Twisted wonderland fic, I had an idea for a Twisted Wonderland/Harry Potter crossover. It’s obviously different from my other fic, since it starts before canon of both fandoms. Meaning I also do not have as much material to base my writing on and have to make up more for myself. Which is nice, but also far more difficult since I’m still rather inexperienced at writing fiction. However, it also gives me so much more freedom. This story will obviously be somewhat to very canon divergent for both Harry Potter and Twisted Wonderland. Thus, characters (mainly Harry, Azul, Jade and Floyd, but also some people from harry potter) will be somewhat out of character, since they will have had a different childhood/different experiences, etc, because of the canon divergence.
> 
> Harry is now an eel merman like they Leech brothers, however he’s not a normal moray eel, but he’s a Zebra moray eel, which are rather small compared to other moray eels and have blunt, molar like teeth, since they mainly feed on crustaceans and hard-shelled animals. I don’t know if I made it clear in this chapter, but Harry was changed into a merman, because he has some merpeople blood through his father and his magic initiated an early creature inheritance. I don’t think creature inheritance is canon, but I know and have read a lot of fanfics that used it. I thought it appropriate to use it as well in my fic. Only instead of happening at his magical majority, it happened earlier because of stress and a need for survival.
> 
> I really hope you like my fic and how I have written the characters so far. I’m really not that great at knowing how children act, especially abused children, but I hope I did the characters justice. Please let me know how you like it so far! I’m really curious, since it’s totally different from my previous Twisted wonderland fic. I’ll try to alternate updating them both.
> 
> One last question, as I mentioned in my other Twisted Wonderland fic, I have some ideas for pairings in this story (which will be a long way of), but I’m still really conflicted on which pairing to go for. I have 3 different pairings on my mind, but I haven't made a decision so far. If I mention which three in the next chapter, would you help me decide which to choose? Like give me reasons why you like one over the others? Or would you rather that I keep it secret (until they get into a relationship) and I decide by myself (maybe with help from my beta).
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I wish everyone a happy new year!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry for the longer wait, but I had some trouble writing this chapter. My lovely beta Andara16 really helped me write it by giving some helpful advice. I would be lost without her 😉.
> 
> And thanks for all the love you’ve already given this fic! 27 kudos and 201 hits after only one rather short chapter. You really surprised me! And thank you for all the lovely comments as well! You are the best!
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter!

The first glimmers of light started to illuminate the room, causing dark lashes to twitch. The grip of sleep slowly released its hold and Harry’s eyelids blearily fluttered open, revealing one green and one brown eye. Confused at the lack of his usual wake up call, Harry sat up warily and looked around. He was lying in a large seashell-shaped bed with a soft blanket comfortably wrapped around him in a room he didn’t recognize. More importantly, he also didn’t remember how he got there. 

Still half asleep, the boy sat up, causing the blanket to slide down to his lap, and nervously moved to push up his glasses. It was one of his habits for when he was unsure of himself and needed something to distract himself with. However, his hand didn’t come into contact with his glasses….? He tried again, sure that he had imagined it in his sleepiness, but he still only felt his empty nose bridge. His glasses were gone?! As he frantically searched his surroundings for his missing glasses, petting the blanket in his lap as well as the rest of the bed, he came to a sudden stop. He had just noticed something. He could see everything clearly and in focus. It might even be better than it had ever been with his glasses. But how was this possible?

As more questions than answers came up, he took the time to look around himself. He still didn’t know where he was, but the air looked somewhat strange to him. Harry squinted, trying to see what was off. Was he….underwater? 

Then, memories of yesterday suddenly resurfaced. Of his uncle beating him, of him suddenly being submerged into water, of water filling his lungs and of the unbearable, all-consuming pain that followed, which caused him to black out. But he also remembered something else. The angelic face that greeted him after all of that had happened. How his short lavender colored hair was illuminated by sunlight, creating the illusion of a halo, as he had leaned closer to the terrified and confused Harry. How his hold was warm, but gentle as he carried Harry towards his own home. His name was Azul, right?

A creak resounded through the room, pulling Harry from his memories. He turned toward the source of the sound and found the subject of his earlier thoughts. Azul floated on the threshold of the room with a tray of food in his hands. His tentacles twitched nervously, while Azul gave Harry a shy smile. 

“Hi…um…Good morning. I brought you some breakfast.” Azul held up the tray in explanation.

Harry had actually forgotten the strangest part of the other, his tentacles. Unused to seeing such an odd appearance, this sight made the boy freeze in place from shock, his greeting dying on his lips. His breath quickened as he tried to suppress memories of his family and their view on freakiness. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true! Azul had been nothing but kind to him so far. He was nothing like the monsters his family thought freaks to be. Maybe his family was wrong after all….

Azul noticed Harry’s sudden stillness and became worried. Thinking that his injuries might have started bothering him again, he placed the tray on a desk close to the door and hurried to the black haired boy. 

“A-Are you alright?” Azul asked as he softly laid his hand on Harry’s shoulder.

The unexpected but appreciated warmth of his touch seemed to release the dark haired boy from his memories. His dark lashes fluttered as the world blinked into focus again and he looked into worried sky blue eyes. 

“…I am okay.” Harry said softly, when he regained control of his breathing. “Just….. some bad memories.”

“I-if you say s-so.” Azul said, sounding unsure. “I’ll get your food for you.” 

As he made to get up from his position on the bed next to Harry, the dark haired boy grabbed his arm. “Wait, you don’t have to! I’ll get it.” Harry said and made to get out of the bed before Azul could protest. However, he hadn’t remembered his changed from and the complications that would bring. As he moved his legs to the side of the bed to stand up, he felt like his legs moved strangely, but decided to ignore it for the moment. He was too focused on the task at hand. Though, he wasn’t able to ignore it when he moved to stand and his legs couldn’t support his weight. Harry ended up falling in a heap on the ground. Most of his tail was still on the bed and twitching furiously as the dark haired teen continued his futile endeavor of standing up. After all, his new tail wouldn’t respond like his legs would have. 

Azul couldn’t help himself and burst out in giggles. Still, he moved to help the other up by grabbing his upper arm and moved him back to the bed. 

As Harry was hoisted back on the bed, he got the first good look at his new appendage…. And started to panic again. However, unlike last time, Azul managed to guess the cause of the other’s sudden distress and carefully grabbed the other’s hands.

“I-it’s going to be okay.” Azul reassured the other. “I.. um… I-I saw you change yesterday. You didn’t have a tail when you arrived, but two strange limb I had never seen before…So…um… what I want to say is that I can keep it a secret if you want…. I don’t know what happened to you but I promise that I will help you!” Azul finished passionately, still holding the other’s hands. 

His words seemed to have the desired effect and Harry notably calmed down. The dark haired boy appeared to be lost for words and simply stared into the other’s eyes for a while, trying to determine how sincere his promise was. 

“I don’t really know what happened to me…” Harry said as he turned his gaze to his new appendage and tried to move it. It wiggled slightly in response. “I don’t know how I got here or how I am now able to breath underwater….and how I got this tail…But please, Azul, don’t tell anyone about it! I don’t want them to see how much of a freak I am!” Harry looked at Azul, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. 

The dark haired boy’s unexpected declaration left Azul speechless so he could only nod in answer. But before he could gather his worried thoughts in a coherent sentence, Harry looked away and continued talking in a whisper that went almost unheard by Azul. “I don’t really want to talk about it anymore, please.” 

Azul looked at the other, unsure how to proceed. After letting out a soft sigh, he pushed himself off the bed and swam to retrieve Harry’s breakfast. He offered it to Harry, who accepted it with a quiet thank you, and retook his place on the bed. The dark haired boy looked at the contents of his plate in confusion. It was unlike anything he had seen before. Long orange strips with what looked like claws on one end? The strips were arranged around a shell with some light orange substance inside it. 

Noticing Harry’s hesitation, Azul explained that the orange strips were crab legs and that he could just take a bite, his teeth should be able to crush the hard shell hiding the softer crab flesh. The shell contained a specialty of his parents restaurant, smoked salmon mousse. It could be eaten in two ways, either by dipping the crab legs in it or by itself. After Azul’s explanation, Harry warily plucked one of the crab legs from his plates and took a small bite. Flavor burst free as he chewed. The crab flesh was soft and tasted salty, like what he would have expected the ocean to taste. The hard shell actually provided a nice crunchy contrast to the softness of the flesh. To his surprise, it didn’t repulse him, quite the opposite. He actually enjoyed it. It was definitely a step up from the stale slices of bread he was used to eating. 

Harry quickly devoured what remained of crab leg and grabbed the seashell with the mousse. After a quick glance at Azul, he hesitantly dipped a finger inside the mouse and brought it to his mouth. The taste surprised him. Like the crab leg, it tasted quite salty, but it also tasted a bit sweet. It reminded him of one of the fruit flavored sweets he had once managed to nick from his cousin. He finished the rest of the mousse using both the crab legs and his fingers. The black haired boy had expected Azul to give him a disapproving look at using his fingers, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. 

While Harry enjoyed his meal, Azul told him a bit about the Coral Sea, the place he had ended up in. Apparently, everyone who lived here was a merfolk, which could be divided in different subspecies. Azul was an octopus merman, while Harry looked like a moray eel merman, which actually weren’t that common. Especially with the black and white coloring that his tail had. The lavender haired boy had only ever seen two other eel merfolk, and that was at his school. But he had never interacted with them before. At Harry’s hesitant request, Azul explained more about merfolk biology. Or at least as much as a nine year old would know. In return the octopus merman asked about life on the surface. At first, Harry was hesitant to answer, but after Azul had reassured him that he didn’t have to talk about his home life, he told him about seemingly trivial things. The sensation of the sun’s warmth on his skin, the calming sound of rustling leaves and the comforting smell of paper and ink the library provided were among them. Their conversation kept up well after Harry had finished his breakfast. 

After what felt like hours, a knock on the door interrupted them. The boys had moved to lean against each other during their talk and looked up in surprise at the sound. As Azul’s mother asked whether she could enter, the octopus mer tried to give Harry some space, but was stopped in his track by the dark haired boy grabbing his arm. At Azul’s questioning look, Harry nodded his consent and Azul replied to his mother that she could enter. 

Azul’s mother looked startled, but pleased as she looked around taking in the empty plate before settling on the two boys huddled together on the bed. She smiled at them both as she softly closed the door and approached them. Harry started to tense as she drew nearer, which caused a sad look to appear on the woman’s face. She halted her approach in response and made herself comfortable on the floor to be on eye level with the boys. The dark haired teen finally took notice of the similarities between mother and son, since he wasn’t in a right state of mind to do so yesterday. Like Azul, she had lavender colored hair and sky blue eyes, though her hair was slightly darker and worn in a lose braid that fell over her shoulder. Furthermore, her skin and tentacles were similarly colored to Azul’s. 

“Good morning, Harry. How are you feeling?” She asked sounding rather worried. “Did you sleep well?

Suddenly feeling somewhat shy at the new presence, Harry didn’t feel like answering her verbally and nodded in reply. 

“That’s wonderful, dear.” She said with a smile, though it didn’t seem to completely reach her eyes. “I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself yesterday. My name is Nerida Ashengrotto and as you already now, I’m Azul’s mother. Now, I know it might be difficult for you, but I need you to tell me what happened to you yesterday.” 

Hearing these words, Harry started to panic. He didn’t want to talk or even think about what happened yesterday anymore. Both mother and son noticed his reaction, but Azul was the first to react by getting a hold of both of the other’s hands and making him focus on him. They stayed like this for a while, just staring into each other’s eyes. Eventually, Harry’s breath had slowed to a normal pace. Still holding the eel merman’s hands, Azul turned back to his mother.

“Mother, Harry told me that he can’t really remember what happened to him.” Azul told his mother, neglecting to mention that he had seen the other appear and transform. 

Though she seemed to believe her son, she still turned to Harry. As her gaze fell on the boy, the boy didn’t visibly react. He was still not over the shock of the other’s actions, since he had not expected Azul to lie for him to his own mother. Had he really meant it when he said that he would keep his secret? A slight squeeze in his hands by Azul prompted him to answer. He just had to go along with what the other had said. He could probably come up with something, right? This might be his chance to get away from his relatives.

“I-I remember a l-lot of pain before Azul found me. I d-don’t now how I got there. There was a f-flash of light….” Harry trailed off, unsure how to continue. He didn’t really like speaking to adults, since they never seemed to believe him. Even though this time he was actually telling lies. Well, they weren’t lies completely. He did not know how he got there and there was a lot of pain, but he left out the part of being on the surface before all of this happened and his transformation…. And that his uncle was responsible for at least part of the pain.

Nerida looked sad at his response. “I’m sorry that happened to you, dear. Do you remember where you live? Who are your parents? Is there anyway for us to contact them?”

The eel mer took a deep breath and squeezed Azul’s hand to reassure himself. “My parents are dead.” Harry stated matter-of-factly, shocking the other occupants of the room at both the sentence and its delivery. However, the eel mer did not seem to notice the reaction he caused and continued his answer. “I lived with my u-uncle V-Vernon and aunt Petunia…. But I don’t know where we lived.” Harry struggled over his uncle’s name, which did not go unnoticed by mother and son. 

“That’s alright, dear. Don’t worry. We’ll ask around if we can find them and in the meantime you can stay here. I’m sure Azul won’t mind your company.” Nerida said and winked at her son, trying to lighten the mood. And succeeded if the blush on both boys faces was any indication. 

At first Harry wanted to protest that they shouldn’t look for his family, since he didn’t want to return to them. He actually feared what his uncle would do when he saw him again. But then he realized that they wouldn’t find his family even if they looked. Azul told him that merpeople rarely traveled to the surface, so there’s little to no chance that they would even think to look there. 

As Harry was lost to his thoughts, he didn’t notice the look mother and son shared. If what they both suspected was right, then there was no way the boy would ever return to his relatives. 

Nerida cleared her throat to get his attention again. “We have an empty room you can stay in. We’ll have to prepare it first, since we haven’t had any guests in a very long time. It shouldn’t take long, maybe two days? In the meantime, do you mind sharing this room with Azul?”

“This is your room Azul?!” Harry said wide-eyed as he turned to his new friend. “But if you let me sleep here tonight, where did you sleep?” 

“I slept on the couch last night. It wasn’t so bad. And if you don’t want to share a bed, I can keep sleeping there.”

“B-But I can’t possibly steal your bed! I’ll sleep on the couch.” Harry tried to argue, but the octopus mer shook his head in reply.

“A guest can’t sleep on the couch! If you don’t want me to sleep on the couch, than we just have to share my bed! It’s large enough for both of us anyway…” Azul trailed off and a blush colored his cheeks a light purple.

The boys were so engrossed in their discussion that they had completely forgotten Nerida’s presence. That was until she chuckled at their antics. They froze and looked like a dear caught in the headlights as they turned towards her. 

“Then it’s settled?” She said with a smile that showed too much teeth as she pushed herself in a standing position. “You’ll share, then?”

They almost robotically nodded their head at her, still feeling mortified. She cheekily waved them a goodbye, with both a hand and one of her tentacles to Harry’s bewilderment, and told them to have fun. She would call when food was ready. 

As the door fell shut, Harry made to move from the bed again. However, he had momentarily forgotten what had happened last time he tried…. And ended sprawled on the floor again. Harry groaned in frustration and shared a look with an amused Azul. 

“Do you want me to teach you how to move with your tail?” The lavender haired boy asked sweetly.

“Please!” Harry pleaded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the long wait. This chapter was quite difficult to write. It’s a rather important chapter for me since it’s somewhat the bridge between the first chapter (which is kinda maybe the prologue?) and Harry’s life in the coral sea and I wanted to include so many things, like Harry’s reaction to his transformation, to his transportation and to Azul (the first one who showed him any positive attention and who he clearly bonded with already). But I also wanted to go through some practical things, like what will allow harry to stay with azul and his family, since usually adults do not just randomly take in a kid without knowing what happened to them or whether they have any family waiting for them. 
> 
> I know this is kinda an angsty chapter, but what would you expect from a kid that has been in an abusive household for most of his life and finally finds himself somewhere safe (not to mention that he’s no longer human). I hope I wrote it at least a little realistically…
> 
> I had a really hard time coming up with suitable breakfast food, since it’s underwater I don’t really know what would work. Azul’s parents have a restaurant, so it wouldn’t be that simple, but I still wanted it to be somewhat exotic and be really typical seafood. I actually looked up some different dishes containing seafood and came across a recipe for smoked salmon mousse, which actually looked rather nice. 
> 
> For the names of Azul’s parents I actually looked up baby names with meanings revolving around water and the color blue, since I that those would fit. I know I haven’t mentioned his name in this chapter yet, but Azul’s father will be named Neel in this fic. According to the internet Neel is a boy’s name of Hindi origin meaning sapphire blue, which I thought would work nicely for the father. Nerida is derived from the word nereid, which were sea nymphs in Greek mythology. It was actually pure by chance that both names start with a N, but eh, I don’t mind. I like the names and I plan to use them, since continuing with calling them Azul’s father and Azul’s mother will become quickly tiresome and boring 
> 
> And finally about the advice for pairings I asked last chapter. I will hold off on any final decisions until I’ve written more of this fic and have more of a feeling for how Harry’s personality will turn out. I will probably ask your opinion again when Harry is older in my fic and almost at the point of meeting his potential love interests. My ideas were 1) Harry x Floyd x Jade, since is pretty self-explanatory. Even though they haven’t met yet, I can assure you that they will have great chemistry and that both leech twins will be pretty protective of Harry (even if they don’t end up together, this won’t change). My second choice 2) was Harry x Leona x Ruggie. I can’t really explain why, but I just think it might work. Especially after what I’ve planned for Harry in the future and with Harry’s past, I think he could really relate with Ruggie. And I don’t want to spoiler you for what I have planned, but I also think after some stuff that will happen in the future that he would get along with Leona as well. So, that leaves my third and fourth. (one of them is actually inspired by SaberclawPrime’s comment. 3) Harry x Rook (thanks again SaberclawPrime , I would have never thought of it myself, but now it just seems to fit) I think Rook would be interested in Harry like he’s interested in both leech twins and Leona, because of stuff that will happen (and I don’t want to spoil you). 4) Harry x Jamil, again, can’t really explain because of stuff that has yet to happen (and won’t for a while), sorry… (not sorry 😉)
> 
> Thankfully I have plenty of time to choose one of these pairings (or one entirely different)! But your opinion is of course appreciated as well, though I can't promise that I will chose your favorite pairing, I will consider all of your suggestions!


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